David Mann Chopperfest

Hit up the Chopperfest today. Good show and some killer bikes.

Heart less bitch

So my buddy Mike stopped by tonight and we got the motor pulled out of the Ironhead.  Now it is time to pull the top end and see how she looks inside.

This little gem came in today from Wargasser speed shop.  Going to be mailing that and my 21" Akront hoop out to Buchanan's soon.

New heat shield

I made up a new heat shield for my exhaust since the last one was to short.  Exhaust and heat shield will soon be off to the coaters.  The pipes are getting polished ceramic coat and the heat shield will be black.

Before shot, kinda hard to see due to the pipes and shield being so close in color here.

Here is the new one I made up.

What bars

Trying to decide on what bars to run.  Cut down Keystones or special 79 mini apes.  What do you think?

What to do with a Triumph motor

So this project is a little off in the distance but I need to figure what direction I am going to go with the Triumph motor that is sitting in pieces in my garage.  The reason I need to figure it out is so I can get rid of the stuff I am not going to use on it.

So do I go with a cafe/vintage race bike, something like this but with a Triumph motor not a Norton

Or do I build a two up longer chop.  King and queen, about 6 over springer, something like one of these.

None of these are my bikes, all pillaged from the Internet.  Let me know what you think.

Next up on my to do list is tear down the Ironhead and rebuild the top end, paint, and powder coat.  It is going to take a little while as money is tight. 

Knees in the breeze

So I got a chance to go see one of the great national parks this country has to offer a couple weekes ago.  Me and 6 other guys rode 787 mile round trip and visited Yosemite National Park.  Amazing country and a great trip.  So glad life worked the way it did and I was invited on this trip and I could make it.

Joys of owning an Ironhead Chop

So a few weeks back I was riding to work and something sounded like it was rubbing.  At first it sounded like the front of the bike but I couldn't see anything while I was riding.  I was on base and not going to fast and didn't have far to go so I just rode it till I got to work.  Well, after getting there I realized it was coming from the back not the front.  After a little investigating I found that one of the bolts holding the rear fender on had backed out and was rubbing the tire.  I got a nice groove down the tire now but it is not to bad.  I am still going to run it.

Kind of hard to see in the picture but you get the idea.  Since I have been riding it several bolts/nuts have either loosened or came off to include my rear axle bolts.  The only thing I can blame it on is stupidity on my part.  So the original idea was to get it on the road and ride it for a few weeks to shake it down then tear it back down for paint and powder coat, well I then got orders to Cali and was not sure I would have the time or the money to get it done before I moved.  So I left it together and figured I would do it when I got here.  With that said I didn't use loctight on shit and it is vibrating its self apart.  That coupled with the fact that the it is burning oil I will be tearing it down real soon to redo the top end and do a proper finish build, possibly throw in building a springer in there too.  Sorry for the rant, stay tuned for more fab and random shit.

Well, I finally got some fab done.  Made up some sissy bars for a couple buddies.  They are going on Street Bobs, the one is mounting in stock side plates the other is complete with side plates.  The TCB was cut by Teach, the bars are 2 feet tall so good size while not being to crazy tall.  

I should be posting more, getting settled in here in Cali and have lots of projects to get done.  Bill you exhaust is getting done this week, should be in the mail by Thursday.

Vintage Dragster Inspired Wagon Completed

I finally got the wagon finished up, just in time for TJ's birthday.  Hopefully he digs it.  Used existing holes in the tub so the seat and roll bar can be taken out later if wanted with no unwanted/unused holes.

More wagon progress

Well, I got the frame of the wagon fitted, jig'ed and welded this weekend.  First order of business was to get the drop axel figured out.  I bought a old used beat go-cart frame off craigslist for $10 a while ago.  Once I got it home I cut off the pieces I thought I might use at some point and pitched the rest.  Two of the pieces I keep were 1" OD and had what looked to be the right bends. 

After a little work I had the excess stuff cleaned up and cut it between each bend.  Then took some measurements and did some cutting and a little more cleaning then got it welded together.  I forgot to take very many pictures of this process but you can see the finished product down below.

So I figures I could use some old 2x4 scrap I had laying around and screw it to my "bike table" and create a temporary jig out of it.  I think it turned out pretty good, the thing is pretty much dead nuts square.  All coping/fish-mouths done with a hand file.  You dont always need high end tools to get great results.

My welds are looking better after my little time off welding.  It is crazy how a little time away and your welds start looking not that great again.  They could still look a little nicer but I think they are pretty good for what it is for.

Frame all welded up, still need to do a few things like weld the mounting tabs for the tub, figure out the steering and weld up the hole that was left from the rear axel not being as big as the radius rods.

Side view to give you and idea, you also can see the wheels I am going with.  The rear wheels I got off of my buddy Jimi's neighbor.  He had a tool cart that he didn't want anymore and he gave me the roller for it free.  I took what I wanted off of it and cut the rest of the frame up and will use that steel for future stuff I am sure.  The front wheels came off a Schwinn tricycle.  They are 10" and pneumatic so they should help the wagon roll smooth.  The wheels were just placed there to help hold the wagon on end.  It will sit a lot lower, ground clearance will be 4" in rear and 2" in front.

Triumphs....wait what

So this past weekend I got a great opportunity to chill and build with a couple buds.  So my buddy Bill is about to get deployed yet again and I am about to be heading west to CA on a new adventure myself.

So we got together this past weekend and his buddy Chad was down from the dirty Jersey.  He picked up a project a few months back at the VA British bike show and swap.  He had not really had a chance to work on it so we dug into this weekend.  By the time I got there it was in a roller already.  A few of the things I helped with were making the oil tank mount and getting that welded onto the frame and also getting the rear fender mounted.  We still need to figure out the front mount for the fender but it is coming along pretty nice.  I love the riding postion, a little aggressive for some probably but I dig it.  Sorry for the shitty cell phone pictures it was all I had with me.

   Bill hit me up a few weeks back and asked if I was still interested in building a Triumph.  I bit and said hell yeah why whats up.  He told me he had enough parts to put together about 75% of a unit 650 motor and he needed to clean out the garage a little.  so I picked up 2 plastic bins of Triumph goodness too.

I have plans on building a Vintage Racer/cafe around it.  I really miss the track and would love to have something I can take to the track every once and awhile and fling it through the turns.  Should be a fun but long project.  Got to get to Cali and settled before I start tearing into this guy, even though I am chomping at the bit.

From what I can see it appears to be a set of cases from 71, the number start with DE, if I am wrong someone please set me straight.  He hooked me up with some good stuff too.  Hard to see in the pictures but you get the idea.

Stay tuned for the wagon project completion and the start of a total Triumph newb attempting to build a motor from a bunch of pieces.  Should be interesting

Wagon Start

So I know I have not posted in forever, been busy with the family and havent had much time to wrench/fabricate.  So I am moving to Cali in like 2 months so the original plan of tearing the bike down for paint and powder has been put on hold.  I will just wait until I get out to Cali and get settled in then tear it back down.

With that said I did get some time in the garage today and I started on my sons first birthday present.  I picked up a brand new still in the box Radio Flyer a little while back from Craigslist for cheap.  I have decided that my boy can roll in any old wagon, that shits gotta be custom.  This is nothing that ground breaking, shit Slim just did one not to long ago and I hope mine turns out half as good as his did.

It was a slow start today but I got the spindles made.  I bought some old radius rods a little while ago off eBay to use for a springer but they are to thin.  I didn't realize there were different thicknesses for them.  So I am going to use them for the main rails for the wagon frame.  Here are a couple shots of the spindles.

I can tell it has been a little while since I welded.  Some of the welds look a little rough.